Low-cost apparatus and method for distributed remote collection of electronic devices for value

ABSTRACT

A handheld-device imaging and collection apparatus, associated techniques and systems are described. An example apparatus may include a first container and a second container attached to each other. The first container includes a top panel arranged to enable acquiring a clear view of an inside of the first container, and one or more mirrors arranged facing inside of the first container, such that an image captured by a camera through the top panel captures reflections, in the one or more mirrors, of an handheld-device placed inside the first container. The second container includes a collection chamber configured to store the handheld-device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/532,526 filed Jul. 14, 2017, the entire contents ofwhich is incorporated by reference. This application is related to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/598,004 filed on May 17, 2017, and U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/153,137 filed on May 12, 2016, both ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

The technology presented herein relates to systems and methods relatedto the remote collection of small electronic devices in exchange forvalue. For example, the technology presented herein may be used in adistributed set of kiosks configured to accept a client's usedelectronic device, such as, for example, a smartphone, tablet computer,a smart watch or the like, and to provide the client with an amount inmoney or equivalent for an estimated value of that accepted usedelectronic device.

BACKGROUND

Many people often find themselves in situations where, after havingbought a new smartphone or some other consumer electronic device toreplace an older device, they would like to conveniently and safelydispose of the old device. In many instances, such persons may desire totrade the old device for some monetary gain. Although they may use aservice such as Ebay or the like to list and sell the old device, suchavenues for disposing old devices are not convenient in that one mustmanually perform a number of steps such as listing the device for sale,monitoring purchase offers, provide the buyer with the device via mailor other manner, wait a relatively long time before receiving the moneyfrom the buyer, and even after the transaction has completed, still runthe risk of subjecting oneself to adverse comments by the buyer and/orreturn of the device.

Distributed collection centers, such as collection kiosks (hereinsometimes also referred to as “booths”) that are configured to accept aclient's smartphone and to then provide the client with an amount ofmoney corresponding to an estimated value are known, such as thoseprovided by ecoATM™. However, further improvements are desired in orderto make the process of trading in old consumer electronic devices moreconvenient for clients and more reliable and efficient for the kioskoperators (e.g., kiosk owners, entity responsible for collectingelectronic devices from multiple kiosks for subsequent trading).

Embodiments disclosed in this application provide for remote distributedcollection kiosks for efficiently collecting certain electronic devices.

SUMMARY

A handheld-device imaging and collection apparatus, associatedtechniques and systems are described. An example apparatus may include afirst container and a second container attached to each other. The firstcontainer includes a top panel arranged to enable acquiring a clear viewof an inside of the first container, and one or more mirrors arrangedfacing inside of the first container, such that an image captured by acamera through the top panel captures reflections, in the one or moremirrors, of an handheld-device placed inside the first container. Thesecond container includes a collection chamber configured to store thehandheld-device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system view of a network of remote distributedelectronic device collection kiosks having different types of kiosks,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a “computer-less” electronic device collection kiosk,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates another “computer-less” electronic device collectionkiosk, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates the arrangement of mirrors inside a “computer-less”electronic device collection kiosk, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of an image capture device beingarranged to capture an image of an electronic device placed inside a“computer-less” electronic device collection kiosk, according to someembodiments.

FIGS. 6-15 illustrate flowcharts of processes facilitating the operationof one or more electronic device collection booths according to someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure include an electronic devicecollection kiosk that facilitates remote distributed collection ofelectronic devices in exchange for a monetary value or other value. Theelectronic devices that may be collected in these kiosks may includeconsumer electronic devices or portable electronic devices such as, butnot limited to, smartphones, tablet computers, smart watches, gamedevices, personal health monitoring devices, or other processor-basedelectronic devices. In some cases, it may be expected that the kiosksdescribed herein will more frequently collect smartphones and the likewhich are in widespread use and are often replaced with newer versionson a relatively short (e.g., 2-4 years) replacement cycle by manyconsumers. These embodiments will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments describedbelow are illustrative only, in order to describe, for example, theelectronic device collection kiosk according to this disclosure isformed and operated, and it is not intended to limit the electronicdevice collection kiosk or the like according to this disclosure tospecific configurations described below. Other specific configurationsmay be employed as appropriate according to the embodiments.

Example embodiments provide a mini kiosk for evaluating and collectingportable devices such as smartphones, portable game devices, portablemedia players, and the like. The mini kiosks are designed so that theycost substantially less than the type of kiosks described, for example,in U.S. application Ser. No. 15/598,004. In at least some of the exampleembodiments, the mini kiosks are configured to be capable of acceptingthe full range of portable devices accepted by the full size kiosk 102described in U.S. Ser. No. 15/598,004. In some other exampleembodiments, the mini kiosks may be designed to accept only some of theportable device types (e.g., accept smartphones but not devices as largeas the 9.7 inch iPad) that are frequently traded by users. The minikiosks can, at least in part due to their lower cost, be deployed insubstantially greater numbers and/or in substantially higher densitiesto facilitate higher number of portable devices being collected. Thelower cost of the mini kiosks enable each mini kiosk to be profitablewith a lower number of portable devices collected per collection period.Thus, for example, a mini kiosk may be deployed at each retail outlet ofone or more wireless service providers where users typically come to getnew portable devices, have their portable devices examiner and repaired,etc.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 comprising a network of distributedelectronic device collection kiosks, according to certain exampleembodiments. A plurality of electronic device collection kiosks(hereinafter referred to simply as “kiosk(s)”) 102, 116 and 118 arelocated at various geographically distributed locations. Each kiosk 102,116 and 118 may be physically located within a respective kiosk premise104. Each kiosk premise 104 may be a building or other area under thesupervision of, for example, a retail store or other enterprise.

The kiosks 102, 116 and 118 and/or their premises are connected via oneor more communication networks 106 to data processing servers 108, datastorage 110 and a call center 112. Whereas kiosks 102 and 118 maythemselves communicate with the network and/or data processing servers108 etc., another device such as a client's second smartphone (e.g.,portable device 122 below, where the client is submitting the firstsmartphone for trade) or kiosk premise representative's (e.g., salesperson at a shop which houses kiosk 116) smartphone which is inproximity to kiosk 116 may communicate with the network and dataprocessing servers 108 to support the trades associated with kiosk 116because kiosk 116 may not have its own communication capabilities. Thenetwork 106 may include, but is not limited to, the Internet and/or oneor more other communications networks such as local area networks, widearea network, cellular connection, and/or point-to-point communicationconnections.

The data processing servers (sometimes referred to herein as centralservers) 108, storage servers 110 and call center 112 may be located atthe same geographical location or at different locations. The processingservers 108 may include one or more of any type of computers and areconfigured to perform processing and/or analysis of data collected atthe kiosks 102, 116 and 118 and/or at the respective kiosk premises, andinformation related to the electronic devices that are being collectedat the kiosks 102, 116 and 118. The processing at one or more processingservers 108 may include real-time processing of information with respectto a currently ongoing transaction between a kiosk or another deviceoperating in support of the kiosk in the network and a client. Forexample, the information transmitted by a kiosk or another deviceoperating in support of a kiosk during a trade transaction can beprogressively monitored and analyzed, for example, by comparing knowninformation about the device currently being traded to information aboutknown counterfeits. In some embodiments, the processing servers mayreceive and process information acquired by a trade device during anevaluation or pre-evaluation process. In yet other embodiments, anotherdevice (e.g., a smartphone other than the trade device) may acquireimages and other information regarding a trade device and/or user andmay transmit to the processing servers for processing. In certainexample embodiments, processing servers 108 may include, or may access,a pricing server which is configured to provide suggested prices forvarious types of electronic devices identified at a kiosk. As furtherdescribed below, in some example embodiments, one or more processingservers 108 may keep track of a fundraising project or the like that isspread across the kiosks. The processing servers 108 may also include apricing server which, with the assistance of a pricing database indatabases 110 including pricing information and pricing determinationconfiguration parameters, operate to provide querying kiosks withpricing and pricing related information for various portable electronicdevices. Given the virtualization of today's computing, the word serverused herein may also refer to computing servers that may be running onone or more physical or virtual computers.

The data storage servers 110 are configured to store information relatedto electronic devices that may be collected at the kiosks, and datacollected at the kiosks and/or kiosk premises (e.g., session data,client information, information regarding consumer electronic devicessubmitted by clients for analysis, information regarding otheractivities (e.g., fundraising activities) associated with the kiosksetc.). The data storage servers 110 may comprise any type of digitaldata storage devices and may use any type of database and/or filestructure to collect and maintain the stored data. The data storageservers 110 may also have databases storing profiles for any type ofdevices that are accepted by kiosks, and performance metrics (e.g., timeto complete certain test instructions per model) etc. For example, oneor more images from each type of device previously processed by and/oraccepted at any of the kiosks may be stored in order to be used inautomated recognition of devices. Pricing information for alreadycompleted transactions, and for other known portable electronic devicesmay also be stored.

The call center 112 may be configured to enable one or more operators(“call center agents” or “call center operators”) to interact with users(e.g., clients) who are close to and/or are interacting with any one ofthe kiosks 102 and 118 and/or another communication device at premisesof kiosk 116. The interaction may include one or more of audio, videoand data feed. For example, when a person is in close proximity to oneof the kiosks 102 in order to submit his electronic device 114 to thekiosk, one or more operators via terminals in the call center 112 mayinteract with the client regarding the submission of electronic device114. The interaction may be facilitated by the audio, video and/or datainterfaces of the kiosk 102 and/or the user's device 114. In someexample embodiments, the services provided by the call center operatorsmay be grouped into two or more classes of services, as described below.In some embodiments, at least some of the call center operators may befully or partially automated.

The kiosks 102, 116 and 118 may each be of different types. Kiosks 102may be referred to as full-featured kiosks, and are kiosks described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/598,004 and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/153,137 whose descriptions of the kiosk are hereinincorporated by reference. As described in the references patentapplications, each kiosk 102 may include one or more displays, one ormore touchscreens, payment dispenser(s), fingerprint detector, animaging chamber with associated mechanical mechanisms to move theelectronic device for imaging and after the imaging, fixed cameras forimaging the electronic device, one or more cameras for detecting andmonitoring users, one or more computer processor to control scanning,communications and displays, etc. With all its sophistication andcapabilities, kiosk 102 may have a cost that makes it monetarilyimpractical to deploy at locations where only a small number ofelectronic devices are collected.

Kiosk 116 may be referred to as a “computer-less” mini kiosk. Likekiosks 102 and 118, computer-less mini kiosk 116 is also designed tofacilitate evaluation of electronic devices and to collect evaluatedelectronic devices. Kiosk 116, being “computer-less”, may, in someembodiments, have no processors, and in some embodiments, may have oneor more processors or simpler electronic controllers, such as, forexample, an Arduino electronic platform, other controller kits, singleboard controllers such as or similar to the Make Controller kit, or acustom electronic implementation including, for example, microcontrollers, switches and other basic electronics for controllingfunctions such as, for example, opening or unlocking a door, moving atray door etc., other than image capturing and transmitting the capturedimages to the server. When a user has an electronic device 120 to betraded for value using the kiosk 116, since the kiosk 116 may not haveits own communication facilities, the servers 108 and 112 rely uponanother portable device 122 to capture images of the electronic device,to transmit the captured images, and to provide for interacting with theuser who is intending to trade electronic device 120. Portable device122 may include, for example, a smartphone (e.g., a retail locationemployee's smartphone), a tablet (e.g., iPad), a media player (e.g.,iPod), a smart watch with camera, etc. In some embodiments, device 122may be a desktop/laptop/notebook/ultrabook/tablet computer that may becommunicatively connected with a camera. More details regarding kiosk116 can be found below in relation to FIGS. 2-3.

Kiosk 118 is a mini kiosk, and like kiosks 102 and 116, kiosk 118 isalso designed to facilitate evaluation of electronic devices and tocollect evaluated electronic devices. Kiosk 118 may include some or allof one or more processors, one or more cameras, one or more routers,etc. Thus, although still less full featured compared to thefull-featured kiosk 102, kiosk 118 includes more capabilities andfunctions than the “computer-less” mini kiosk 116. Kiosk 118 may beconfigured to either use a camera of an electronic device 126 (e.g.,similar to electronic device 122 above) or a built in camera to captureimages of a trade-in electronic device 124 (e.g., similar to electronicdevices 114 or 120 above). More details regarding kiosk 118 can be foundbelow in relation to FIGS. 2-4.

Both mini kiosks 116 and 118 provide for evaluating and collectingportable devices, albeit with less of the accompanying functions of thefull-sized kiosk 102 so that the manufacturing and/or maintenance costsare lower and deployment in greater numbers can be facilitated.

FIG. 2 illustrates a “computer-less” electronic device collection kiosk202, such as mini kiosk 116 described above, according to someembodiments.

Kiosk 202 is a mini kiosk for imaging and collection of electronicdevices. Kiosk 202, at least in some example embodiments, does notinclude a computer processor and/or its own camera. A user may utilize asmartphone, tablet computer or the like to capture one or more images ofthe trade device, to transmit the captured images to a remote serverand/or operator, to receive a proposed trade value for the trade deviceand/or instructions for further evaluation, to provide payment or othercompensation for the trade device, and to complete the transaction. Forexample, when kiosk 202 is deployed in a retail store that specializesin mobile services and/or equipment and a user brings in a tradeabledevice (e.g., such as electronic device 120 above), a sales associatemay use his smartphone or an iPad or the like (e.g., such as electronicdevice 122 above) as an image capture device to take and transmit animage of the trade device to a server (e.g., such as data processingserver 108 and/or call cancel 112) and to facilitate the interactionbetween the user and the server.

Transmission of the trade device information, such as the imagecaptured, may be done in various ways. In an embodiment, email or otherstandard information messaging systems (SMS/MMS, iMessage etc.) may beused to communicate information to data processing servers (e.g., dataprocessing servers 108) and/or call center operators (e.g., call center112). Other embodiments may use a custom application or a web-page fortransmitting trade device information, providing a better userexperience.

Such embodiments may be used in conjunction with a diagnosticapplication running on the trade device, such as described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/153,137 filed on May 12, 2016 and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/598,004 filed on May 17, 2017. Suchdiagnostic application on the trade device may provide additionalinformation for the remote servers and/or the call center agents to makemore accurate evaluation of the trade device value, the trade devicemake, model and completed tests.

Kiosk 202 comprises an upper container 204 configured to facilitateevaluation of the portable device, and a lower container 206 configuredto collect and store trade devices.

The containers may be constructed, at least in part, with wood, particleboard, plastic or other low cost material in order to keep themanufacturing costs low. For example, in some embodiments, the frame andsides of each container are made of wood and/or particle board. In someembodiments, one or both of the containers may include plastic and/orplexi-glass at least in portions. The first and second containers may beconstructed with the same material or different materials orcombinations of materials.

In the illustrated example embodiment, the first and second containersare both in the shape of rectangular boxes. However, some other exampleembodiments may have different shaped containers. For example, someexample embodiments may include at least of the first and secondcontainer in a cylindrical shape. In still other embodiments, the twocontainers may have different shapes to each other. The containers maybe constructed so that they are directly adjacent to each other. In someembodiments, the bottom of the first container and the top of the secondcontainer may be the same.

The first container 204 is configured to have a trade device (e.g.,electronic device intended to be traded) positioned within in a mannerthat one or more images can be captured of the trade device. In oneembodiment, the first container 204 includes an opening 212 throughwhich the trade device is moved into the first container. The openingmay be of a shape or size that permits a user to manually insert thetrade device into the first container and place it on the bottom insidesurface 214 of the first container. In some example embodiments, thefirst container includes a door (not shown) on one of its sides, suchthat the inside of the first container can be accessed by opening thedoor.

In some embodiments, the door (not separately shown) may be held closed(locked) by electromechanical means such as an electro magnet, solenoidor motor so that the first container is accessible only when the minikiosk is operated normally, for instance, with the help of a salespersonapplication or through a website. In such embodiments, a minimal orbare-bones electronics and communications means may exist for a remoteapplication or software to control such door, for example, asystem-on-chip, a Bluetooth or Wifi enabled device, Internet of Things(for computer-less version) such as Arduino board or similar design orRaspberry pi type of low cost computing device for computer-basedversions.

In some embodiments, the trade device may have at least a portion of aside (e.g., 210 side) open in order to facilitate access to the insideof the first container and also to facilitate the flow of light to theinside of the first container.

The inside of the first container may have one or more mirrors arrangedat one or more positions (e.g., on the inside sides 212) around thelocation designated for placing the trade device. The mirrors may bearranged so that they capture reflections of the sides of the tradedevice, and the captured reflections are also captured in an image ofthe face of the trade device captured by a camera positioned at the topor bottom of the first container. The mirrors may include a singlemirror, or multiple mirrors. In some embodiments, the mirrors arearranged so that every portion of every side of a trade device (e.g.,rectangular or substantially rectangular smartphone, etc.) is capturedin a reflection at least by one of the mirrors.

In some embodiments, additional cameras or additional image takingpositions for the same camera may be used instead of mirrors to provideadditional viewing angles. For example, two additional cameras placed at45-degrees and having a view on the edges of the trade device combinedwith a top view and bottom view cameras provides additional view pointswithout having to move the trade device inside the first container. Itwill be understood, that while multiple cameras can be usedadvantageously, only a single camera is necessary.

In some embodiments, a platform is formed on the bottom inside surfaceof the first container. The platform is sized and shaped for placing thetrade device. In some embodiments, the platform is made of the samematerial as the bottom inside surface. In some embodiments, the platformmay be constructed with a transparent material such as plexiglass.

In some embodiments, a unique computer-readable identifier such as oneor more QR codes may represent a kiosk ID and may be included in theviewing area in a portion of the first container that does not interferewith the imaging. Using optical character recognition, QR or barcodereading technology, the system (e.g., data processing servers orapplication that process images) may be capable of confirming thelocation where a particular trade occurs.

In an alternate embodiment, the kiosk ID is placed elsewhere, whichrequires an additional step for the “trade application” (e.g., an apprunning on a kiosk premise representatives device or interaction controldevice, kiosk application or part thereof running on an interactioncontrol device) to scan the kiosk ID so that the system is informed ofthe trade location.

In some embodiments, where there the first container includes a platformon which the trade device is to be placed, at least some of the mirrorsmay be arranged at an angle so that, in addition to reflection so thesides of the trade device, at least some portions of the bottom surfaceof the trade device are also represented in the reflections. In thismanner, an image that captures the face of the trade device can alsoinclude reflections of the sides of the trade device and at leastportions of the bottom surface of the trade device.

One or more sides of the first container may be constructed with atransparent material so that the flow of light to the inside of thefirst container is facilitated, and/or additional images of the tradedevice within the first container can be captured through thetransparent materials of the sides.

The top 208 of the first container may be at least in part constructedfrom a transparent material. A transparent material may facilitate theinside of the container to have more light.

In some embodiments, a hole 220, with a size barely sufficient for asmartphone camera (e.g., such as a camera of electronic device 122) tocapture an image of the face of the trade device is formed at or nearthe center of the top. The field of a camera placed over the hole sothat it can capture an image of the face of the trade device may includethe mirrors located around the trade device. In this manner the image ofthe face of the trade device, also includes reflections of the sidesand/or portions of the bottom surface of the trade device. Therefore,the hole may be sized in accordance with the size of the cameras (e.g.,camera lens, or lens and flash) that are expected to be used, thethickness of the top such that the top does not interfere with the fieldof the camera, and the distance to the mirrors from the center of thebottom surface such that the mirrors (or at least portions of themirrors) are within the field of the camera placed at the hole and thereflected images in the mirrors would also be included in the image ofthe face of the trade device.

The height of the top container may be adjustable. For example, a firstpart and a second part of the top container may be moved relative toeach other so that the height can be changed. The changeable height maybe used to configure a height appropriate for the focal point of thecamera to be used, and/or to change the size of the entire mini kiosk sothat it may be fit to a more restricted place. In some embodiments, theheight may be changed using pre-marked latch positions that areconfigured for optical image capture using one or more popularsmartphone models.

The bottom container, as noted above, is configured to collect aplurality of trade devices. After a trade device has been subjected toan image capture in the first container, and the subsequent evaluation,and if the user and the system come to an agreement to trade the tradedevice, then the trade device is deposited into the bottom container tobe stored until it can be securely transferred to another location forfurther processing.

In some example embodiments, the trade device is deposited into thebottom container through an opening 216 on a side of the bottomcontainer. The opening may be sized so that it is large enough to accepttrade devices upto a certain predetermined size (e.g., size of a largersmartphone, size of iPad etc.), but is too small to allow retrieving thedeposited trade devices by hand or other retrieving device. The shape ofthe opening, in the inside, may also be configured to make it moredifficult or substantially impossible to retrieve deposited devicesusing a retrieval tool.

In another embodiment, a mechanical door in the bottom of the topcontainer and/or top of the bottom container such that the user, afterconfirming that the trade device is to be traded for agreed upon terms,can operate the mechanical door to drop the trade device into the bottomcontainer from within the top container. The door may be operated by auser using a button, lever, slide or the like located on a side of thebottom container. In some embodiments, the doors may be operated by aminimal electronic setup that provides features such as door-lockingetc., as described above in relation to a door in the top container. Oneor more safety mechanisms may be in place, to prevent (or minimize)accidental depositing of the trade device into the bottom container.

The bottom container provides for secure storage of the collected tradedevices. In some embodiments, the only manner by which trade deviceswith the bottom container can be collected is by using opening a lock218 on a door of the bottom container. In order to ensure that staff atretail locations where mini kiosks are located do not have access to thecollected devices, the key to the lock may be maintained by anotherentity other than those at the retail location. Another manner by whichthis security may be provided is to have two or more locks that eachrequires a different key. The purpose to have multiple locks withdifferent keys is so that different interested parties can have theirown key and lock such that, the trade devices collected within thebottom container can be accessed only when all the interested partiesare present. This security reduces the complaints about switchedsmartphones, missing trade devices, etc.

According to some embodiments, a collection bag, bin or the like may bearranged in the bottom container such that when the door is opened tocollect the so far deposited trade devices, the collector does not haveto gather them one by one, and instead can merely retrieve thecollecting bag and tie the bag before forwarding it on for processing ofthe collected devices. In still other embodiments, the opening of thedoor may mechanically cause the tying/sealing of the collection bag.

In some example embodiments, the top container and bottom container maybe moved relative to each other in an up/down direction. Such movementmay affect the size of the area used for collecting trade devices. Thisfeature may be used to adjust the size the mini kiosk for purposes suchas fitting into restricted spaces.

Some embodiments may not include a bottom container, and may insteadsimply include a device receptacle such as a bag. In yet otherembodiments, the bottom container may simply be non existent. In suchembodiments, traded-in electronic devices may be stored apart from thekiosk, for example, in a secure bag, another safe located elsewhere, orsomehow managed by the sales staff or representatives of the kiosklocation.

In some example embodiments, the system may include a method forassociating a sales person or representative from the kiosk location(i.e., representative who assists with accepting the trade-in electronicdevice) with a transaction. For example, the trade application may havea sign-in option, may require a pin code, password, thumbprint orfingerprint scan or may require the sales person to identify itselfbefore or after performing an evaluation so that any transaction can beassociated with the sales person. The identification can be made onlyonce, for instance, if the sales person uses his personal phone. Thisidentification mechanism may be useful in case there is a problem withthe transaction. It can also be used to monitor the best sales persons,and optionally to give rewards or commissions.

FIG. 3 illustrates another “computer-less” electronic device collectionkiosk 302, such as mini kiosk 116 described above, according to someembodiments. Kiosk 302 may be similar to kiosk 202 described above,except where the top container 304 in kiosk 302 is on several sides andon the top made of a plexiglass-type transparent materials. A seethrough top container (or at least partially transparent top with one ormore sides transparent or partially-transparent) may facilitate the flowof light to the inside of the top container, and may make the kiosk moreattractive and interesting to users.

FIG. 4 illustrates the arrangement of mirrors inside a “computer-less”electronic device collection kiosk, such as kiosks 202 or 302, accordingto some embodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 4, one or more mirrors 402,403, 404 and 405 may be arranged between a platform 408 which isconfigured to hold a trade device and the sides of the top container204. As illustrated, the mirrors may be angled so that an image capturedfrom the top will, in addition to the image of the face of the tradedevice, also include representations of the sides and/or bottom of thetrade device that is reflected in the mirrors. In some embodiments, theangle may be configurable, e.g., via a mechanical adjustment mechanism.In some embodiments, the distance between the mirrors and the tradedevice can be adjusted, so that, for example, devices of different sizecan be easily imaged. The mirrors are ideally placed according toreflection physics taking into consideration the viewing angle of thecamera 522, the focal length or distance between the camera and the areafor positioning the trade device (524) so that the camera is capable ofcapturing the most significant pixels of the trade device and all of itsreflections, in order to provide a picture containing various viewingangles of the trade device that will help in assessing the trade devicecondition, including defects.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of an image capture device 520 beingarranged to capture an image of an electronic device 524 placed inside a“computer-less” electronic device collection kiosk 502, such as kiosk116 above, according to some embodiments.

The image capture device 520, which may be a smartphone of a user (e.g.,electronic device 122 described above), is positioned on the top panelof the top container 504 such that its camera 522 is positioned directlyover a hole (not shown separately in FIG. 5) facing downwards. The fieldof view of the camera 522 may be arranged so that mirrors 508 are withinthe field of view, as well as the trade device 524 which may be placedon a platform 510.

A trap door 512 may be operated by a button, slide or switch 516 and viaa mechanical mechanism 518 to open and close door 512. When the door 512is caused to open, the electronic device 524 may fall into thecollection bin 514 located in the bottom container 506 of the kiosk 502.

Some embodiments may provide for ensuring that the trade device wassafely deposited inside the collection bin (e.g., bag, bin etc.). Anexample technique may include causing a kiosk app running on the tradedevice to take pictures inside the collection bin 514 where one or moreQR codes or other computer-readable identifiers may be placed atstrategic locations in order to confirm from the images that the tradedevice was indeed inside the bin of the particular kiosk. In anothertechnique, the kiosk app running on the trade device may be caused tolisten to audio or capture visual signals such as a specific sequence oflight that is transmitted by a minimal electronic setup. For example, aminimalist electronic component, for example a micro controllerprogrammed to toggle a signal on and off for controlling a LED for orspeaker for an audio signal that may transmit such a “morse code like”audio sequence or binary information sequence by turning on/off an LED,wherein the sequence contains information to permit the kiosk app on thetrade device (and/or subsequently the processors 108 or call center 112)to securely confirm that the trade device was securely placed in theintended bin 514. In some embodiments, such confirmation may trigger thegeneration of a trade coupon or the like.

In an example camera-enabled embodiment, for example, an embodimentincluding processor such as a Raspberri Pi or the like, a camera may belocated inside the bin 51, and, by taking differential pictures may beable to confirm the placement of the trade device inside the bin 514.

FIGS. 6-30 illustrate flowcharts of a process facilitating the operationof one or more electronic device collection kiosks 116 according to someembodiments. Although operations of process 600 are shown in aparticular order, it is understood that some embodiments may eliminateone or more operations, add one or more operations, and/or change theordering of some operations.

FIGS. 6-30 of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/598,004 described processesof a trade device being evaluated and accepted when the trade device isbrought to a full-featured kiosk 102. When the trade device is broughtto a “computer-less” kiosk 116, however, since many of thefunctionalities that are available in kiosk 102 are not available inkiosk 116, some of the processing may not occurs or may occurdifferently that in the case of kiosk 102. In general, exampleembodiments using “computer-less” kiosk 116 may operate by using adevice such as a user's smartphone or a tablet computer which operatesas the image capture device and also as the input/output device forinteractions with the back-send servers and call center personnel.

Process 600 may begin when a client enters a premises that houses a“computer-less” kiosk 116 and indicates to a premises assistant (or alike person who may supervise the local use of kiosk 116) that he/she(the client) would like to trade in an electronic device. At operation602, the premises assistant may start a trade application on aninteraction control device that is not part of the kiosk 116, and a usersession is created. The interaction control device may be a smartphone(e.g., the premises assistant's personal smartphone), a tablet computersuch as an iPad (e.g., an iPad used for day-to-day premises salesunrelated to the kiosk 116), or the like. The user session is intendedto capture sufficient information to record the entire transaction forpurposes including, for example, legal/contractual purposes, recordkeeping purposes and data collection purposes. As described below, insome embodiments, the client may have acquired the kiosk app beforearriving at the kiosk, and enabled the kiosk app to collect informationabout the client and the trade device. Thus, in embodiments in which thekiosk app already has some information regarding the client and/ortrade, the kiosk app acquired information may be transferred tointeraction control device upon the client's arrival at the kiosk orkiosk premises, and the interaction control device may change orcustomize the following operations to only acquire information that hasnot been already acquired by the kiosk app.

At operation 604, optionally, the interaction control device captures animage of an ID card provided by the client. For example, the client mayhave provided a driver's license (or other similar ID card). The ID cardis scanned and/or photographed on one or both sides in order acquire theclient's ID information.

In embodiments which use an ID, at operation 606 it is determinedwhether the submitted ID is valid. In some embodiments, thescanned/photographed ID card information may be transmitted to a callcenter agent who verifies the information and communicates approval ordisapproval. In other embodiments, at this stage, if certain basicpredetermined parameters are satisfied for the scanned/photographed IDcard, the ID may be assumed valid. For example, if the provided ID cardis a driver's license, the interaction control device may determine, byrunning optical character recognition or the like upon thescanned/photographed ID card, a driver's license number and name, andthat information may be communicated to an internet resource that canverify the authenticity of the ID card information.

In embodiments which use an ID, once the card is scanned, a picture ofthe client captured by the interaction control device may be sent to anOCR server. Through the use of APIs (e.g., Google Tesseract™ and InliteClearImage™), the server finds and decodes barcodes that may be presentin the ID card or in the pictures and uses OCR to read any text.Thereafter, a check is made regarding whether the OCR data matches thedata found in the barcodes. This helps automatically assess if the cardis valid.

If the ID information is not valid, then the client may be rejected andthe user session closed at operation 607.

If the ID information is found to be valid, at operation 608, the usersession is updated to include the client's identification information.At this stage, the user session may be maintained in memory.

At operation 610, the updated user session is stored. The storing may beto non-volatile memory in the interaction control device. In someembodiments, the storing may also be to a remotely located storageserver.

In some embodiments, ID identification may not be required options tobypass or to use other means may be made available to the personassisting trade. For example, a salesperson could enter a carrieraccount number in lieu of an ID.

In some embodiments, identification may be provided through the kioskapp running on the trade device as described in the previously filedapplication Ser. No. 15/598,004, or on the kiosk app running on therepresentative's device in a similar manner. These steps may be usefulfor fraud prevention.

In some embodiments, an interaction control device (e.g., anothersmartphone, such as a sales person's smartphone) may directly connect(e.g., via a cable) to the trade device to run diagnostics, and one ormore images of the trade device can be captured with the interactioncontrol device's camera. The diagnostic information and images may thenbe transmitted to the remote data processing servers (e.g., servers 108)and/or call center (e.g., call center 112) which performs analysis ofthe information to arrive at a payment offer for the trade device. Thecommunication with the client may be performed through the interactioncontrol device, and the payment can be electronically transmitted to theclient. A kiosk may not be required in such example embodiments (e.g., akiosk-less operation). However, without the kiosk, certain capabilitiesfor reliably identifying the trade location and for identifying theevaluated portable device as the device finally deposited may bedifficult and/or not possible.

FIG. 7 illustrates a portion of flowchart 600 including operations 614to 624. After operation 610, the flowchart 600 proceeds to operation612. At operation 612 the client may be prompted to download the kioskapplication (“kiosk app”) to the trade device (i.e., the electronicdevice that the client intends to trade or submit for analysis by thekiosk). The prompting may be performed by displaying a message on theinteraction control device. In some embodiments, a communicationconnection between the trade device and the interaction control devicemay be made using a wireless connection such as, but not limited to,WiFi or a form of near field communication (NFC) protocol. Thecommunication connection may be used for the interaction control deviceto control the kiosk app execution on the trade device, and foracquiring information acquired by the kiosk app.

In some embodiments, a pre-evaluation of the trade device may beperformed resulting in presenting the user with the initial payout offeramount. The pre-evaluation may occur at any point in the processing ofprocess 600, but preferably occurs at an early operation before theclient provides much input or spends much time. The pre-evaluation maybe based upon one or more basic questions posed to the client, such as,questions for determining the age of the device, and questions fordetermining the condition (e.g., mint, good, damaged, broken) of thedevice, etc. Check boxes or other similar interface can be provided todetermine the condition and, if determined to be damaged, a further setof checkbox choices may be presented to determine the type of damage(e.g., glass damage, damaged port, etc.). The client may be offered achance to accept the pre-evaluation payout amount subject to scaled-downevaluation of the device and bypass the time consuming portions of theevaluation process, or to refuse the pre-evaluation payout amount and gothrough the entire evaluation process.

At operation 618 it is determined whether the kiosk app successfullyexecuted on the trade device. This determination may be based upon theinteraction control device or a remote server receiving a preprogrammedmessage from the kiosk app now running on the trade device. As describedfurther below, the kiosk app may be configured to perform a series ofdiagnostic activities. As noted above, results from such diagnosticactivities can be transferred to the interaction control device and/orremote server.

If the kiosk app was executed successfully, at operation 620, the clientand/or premises assistant may be prompted to place the trade device inthe kiosk for evaluation. This prompting may be delivered via theinteraction control device's screen and/or the trade device's screen.

In certain example embodiments, the kiosk app is used to relayinformation about the device to the kiosk, central server and/or to thecall center, to display instructions to the client and also as asecurity measure. The app and the interaction control device operate intandem to make available an extensive test of each user device. Whereassome online and “brick & mortar” companies that accept used electronicdevices in exchange for money, pay only after they get the phone intotheir hands (therefore adjusting the price once they physically test allfeatures and see the phone's condition), in the example embodimentsdiscussed herein, the service provider (e.g. entity purchasing the tradedevice) would desire to be as certain of the value of the device aspossible because payment for the device is made to the client at thekiosk before the provider or any of its human operators physicallyreceive it.

The kiosk app may collect the trade device's information (e.g.,IMEI/MEID/ESN (if possible), brand, model #, carrier, CPU, RAM, SD card,etc.) and detects any peripheral that is attached to the trade deviceeither directly (e.g., earphones, battery pack, charging cable, adaptersetc.) or wirelessly (e.g., watch, headset, phone, thermometer, etc.). Itgathers all this info and transfers it to the interaction control deviceand/or remote server. It then waits for further instructions. Certaininformation about the trade device, such as, for example, the age of thetrade device and the condition of the trade device, may be determinedbased upon the client's responses to specific questions posed on ascreen of the kiosk or on the trade device. As described in furtherdetail below, in some embodiments, the information collection by the apprunning on the trade device may occur before the connection is made tothe kiosk.

While the client is still handling the trade device, the kiosk app may(in some embodiments, under the control of the interaction controldevice and/or call center) also have the client test the physicalbuttons of the trade device (as a broken button significantly reduces atrade device's value). One or both the kiosk app and the interactioncontrol device may instruct the client to press on the volume, home andon/off buttons (e.g., and other buttons specific to each modelphone—since the kiosk app will have informed the kiosk or call centeroperator of the model). While this is going on, the kiosk or call centeroperator can (transparently to the client) have the kiosk app testthings like, the accelerometer, the gyroscope, the GPS, Bluetooth, etc.Only when either the app has run through a standard predetermined testroutine and/or the kiosk or call center operator has been satisfied thatthe trade device is ready to be placed within the kiosk will the clientbe permitted to place it in the kiosk opening for further evaluation.

Once the trade device is in the kiosk, the app and the interactioncontrol device may still work in tandem to continue the testing. Forexample, the app may force the trade device to take pictures with one orboth cameras (albeit within the kiosk) and transmit these to the serverand have them available to the call center operator for evaluation. Thekiosk may be configured with one or more particular markings for thepurpose of being analyzed for quality when the markings are detected inimages captured by the trade device's camera(s).

Once the trade device is in the kiosk, the interaction control devicemay send a unique identifier to the trade device which then displays itas a QR code on screen. The interaction control device reads back thisQR code while taking pictures of the trade device which verifies thatthe trade device in the kiosk is really the trade device that is runningthe application. In some embodiments, patterns other than QR codes maybe displayed and detected for this purpose. This security measure isimportant in order to avoid a situation where a client tries to run theapplication on two devices and put the lower valued one in the kiosk asthe trade device.

The kiosk app can also test the trade device's speaker(s) by having thekiosk cue the app to play an audio file while the microphone in theinteraction control device records it and sends results to theprocessing server (e.g. processing server 108). The reverse may also bedone where the interaction control device will play a file through aspeaker within the kiosk and cue the kiosk app to record it and send theresults to the server or to the kiosk app. The server or the kiosk appmay be configured to detect the known audio files and alert the agent ifeither the microphone or the speaker of the trade device is damaged.

At operation 622, one or more externally detectable metrics for thetrade device (e.g., picture, volume, shape, size, etc.) are obtained.The interaction control device's camera may be utilized to captureimages of the trade device. The images may be for determining theexternally visible characteristics of the trade device. For example,visible indications of the type and model of the trade device, cracks,dents, scratches, etc. on the surface, missing buttons, etc. The kioskmay, in some embodiments, automatically determine, based upon imagescaptured by a plurality of cameras, a volume, size and/or shape of thetrade device. In some embodiments, a weighing scale may be integratedinto a platform which holds the trade device when it is within the kioskand that can detect the weight of the trade device. The weight may bedisplayed so that it can be captured in the image, or transmitted ifsuch communication capabilities are present in the embodiment.

At operation 624, internal metrics for the trade device are obtainedusing the kiosk app running on the trade device. Internal metrics mayinclude operating system, memory, manufacturer, model number, hardwarefeatures and configuration, battery status, network status, signalstrength, audio quality, video display quality, etc.

Some embodiment are configured to one or more techniques for identifyingthe trade device. According to an embodiment, a first technique ofidentifying a device is also used to continuously upgrade the successrate of a second technique for identifying devices. The criteria todecide which technique to use may, in some embodiments, solely be basedon whether a trade device can run the kiosk app or not.

If the trade device can run the kiosk app, the app may be programmed tocause the trade device to transfer all the information needed toidentify itself to the system's servers. In some embodiments, theinformation can be deemed 100% accurate. The interaction control devicetakes pictures of the trade device to match the information decryptedfrom the QR code shown on screen against the information receiveddirectly from the trade device. All pictures and data may be sent to thecall center where an operator can assess the information received andcondition of the trade device (scratches, missing button, etc.). Thepictures obtained this way are deemed to be accurate ones of thepositively identified device so they can be used to further populate oneor more central databases.

If the trade device cannot run the application (e.g., because it's not asmartphone or a compatible processor based device, it's broken, etc.)the trade device may be placed in the kiosk as is. The kiosk takespictures of the trade device and sends those pictures to the call centeror processing server. Once at the call center, the pictures are runthrough an algorithm which detects features of the device (devicesurface area, screen surface area, width/height ratio, color, buttonplacement, edge features, markings). These values are then compared topictures stored in a database to match possible candidates. The topcandidates (e.g., top five candidates)—with maybe a percentage ofcertainty—are shown to the call center agent who then selects thecorrect one.

In some embodiments, a sales representative or the like may assist fortrade devices that cannot run the app by entering the information on itsinteraction control device.

The server may be located at a remote location from a trade locationwhere the server can receive information concerning a trade deviceevaluation, where the information includes at least one picture of anelectronic trade device from a trader client, the server being operableto assess the condition of the electronic device from said at least onepictures and, with the help of a pricing method, the server is capableto return a quoted price to the trader. The trader client may beprovided with a facility for accepting the quote. Upon acceptance of thequote, a transaction may be recorded in one of the server's records. Theserver, in some embodiments, may use the information is sent to theserver via a mobile application programmed for such purposes asdescribed above. In some embodiments, the information may be receive viaa web site, and/or via an email where the one or more pictures are sentas an attachment to the email, or via a remote internet camera uniquelyidentifiable to a trader or a trade location.

FIG. 8 illustrates a portion of flowchart 600 including operations 626to 638. After operation 624, the flowchart 600 proceeds to operation626. At operation 626, the user session is updated to include aspects ofthe collected metrics.

At operation 628, the acquired metrics are processed. The processing mayinclude performing validity checks on some of the collected metrics.Processing may also include deriving one or more parameters based uponobtained parameters. For example, a remaining battery lifetime may bedetermined based upon the collected metrics of battery strength, batterytype, and the type and model of the trade device.

At operation 630, the user session is assigned to a remote operator(e.g. a call center operator). According to an embodiment, wheremultiple levels of remote operators are available to service clients atkiosks, a level 1 remote operator is assigned to the user session basedupon the specific criteria of this user session.

At operation 632, optionally, the remote operator verifies the client.Verifying the client may be based on the obtained information (e.g., IDcard information) and images of the client as captured by one or more ofthe kiosk cameras or a camera of the interaction control device. Forexample, the remote operator may compare the image in the driver'slicense to the image captured by the camera in order to determinewhether they match. If it is determined that they match, the remoteoperator determines whether the client is indeed the same person as theone identified in the provided card.

According to some embodiments, the call center agent may be a finaldecision maker for each and every transaction. In general, there areseveral factors that may be used in the call center operator's decisionfor the satisfactory completion of a transaction.

In some embodiments, the call center operator may have to be satisfiedthat the pictures taken of the client matches the picture(s) on theclient's official ID Card, so that, for example, a reliable positiveidentification can be made. If the call center operator feels morepictures are needed, he/she can request, via the interaction controldevice, the premises assistant to acquire more pictures. In someembodiments, the call center operator may to acquire pictures usingspecified capture parameters (e.g., capture angle, zoom level, lightlevel, etc.). The captured pictures may be transferred immediately aftercapture to the requesting call center operator.

The call center operator may also have to be satisfied that he canaccurately identify the device submitted by the client at the kiosk,albeit with all the help that a database can offer him.

The call center operator may also have to be satisfied that the money(or other value means) offered to the client for their device is in linewith all the rest of the information gathered up to that point—includingthe general condition of the device submitted.

For embodiments that use an ID, at operation 634, it is determinedwhether the client was successfully verified.

At operation 636, it is determined whether the trade device is valid.The call center operator may make this determination based upon all themetrics and other information gathered so far regarding the trade devicefrom the scanning and from running the kiosk app.

At operation 638, the operator selects trade device conditions. The callcenter operator may be presented with various visual condition options.For example: cracked screen, blemishes, scratches, missing buttons,missing back cover, missing battery. The operator may also be presentedwith a general condition selector (i.e.: bad, poor, good, excellent,etc.) which will directly impact price. At this point, the operator maychoose to decline the trade device, for example, due to unwantedattached options (i.e.: earphones, cables, non-genuine cover, etc.).

FIG. 9 illustrates a portion of flowchart 600 including operations 640to 648. After operation 638, the flowchart 600 proceeds to operation640. At operation 640, a value for the trade device is determined basedupon the information gathered and the conditions selected previously.

At operation 642, the user session is updated with the estimated valuefor the trade device.

At operation 644, it is determined whether the trade device istradeable. For example, if the estimated value for the trade device isabove a predetermined threshold, then it is considered tradeable.Otherwise, it is untradeable. An example predetermined threshold valuemay be $0.

If the trade device is determined to be tradeable, at operation 646, theclient is presented with an offer for the trade device. The offer mayinclude a price that the kiosk operating company is willing to pay theclient for the trade device. The price may be the same as the estimatedvalue or may be based upon it. The offer may be presented by displayingthe price and virtual buttons that the client can use to indicateacceptance or rejection of the offer.

Some business models for operating the kiosks, like the kiosks describedhere, call for the same company to own, distribute and service eachkiosk directly. This model is prone to being very taxing to thecompany's finances as well as to their human resources.

In some embodiments, each kiosk 116 (or, in some cases, each group ofkiosks) is sold to an independent business owner (IBO) who will then“subscribe” to services of a first company. The goal may be to offerflexibility and/or encourage geo-specific pricing. In order to achievethis model of operation, a plurality of different “subscriptionpackages” can be offered. The IBO may start by purchasing (or in someoccasions leasing) the package that consists of the kiosk with all ofthe software to use the kiosk—such as the kiosk app to run on the tradedevice and a trade app to run on the interaction control device. It isunderstood that kiosks 116 have no direct connection to a centralizedcall center operators and processing servers, and instead, rely uponconnections to the call center/servers via the interaction controldevice and/or the trade device. Some examples of flexible subscriptionmodels include a basic model, geo-specific pricing model, or a combopricing technique.

According to the basic pricing model, the IBO purchases the kiosk aswell as the software that runs it (including the call center operators,etc.). What the user is paid for a traded device is determined based onfactors such as the trade device's current wholesale value, theprojected retail value, the amount of inventory currently or expected tobe accumulated of that particular device, etc.

According to an example embodiment, the IBO's payment for a tradeddevice is based on a scale that integrates one or more factors which mayinclude the amount paid to the client, the total amount of unitsreceived by the IBO in a given time, the overall number of kiosksoperated by the IBO, etc.

According to the geo-specific pricing model, the IBO purchases the kioskas well as the software that runs it (including the call centeroperators, etc.). The system determines what the client is paid for aparticular device based on factors like: the projected price that thetrade device will be resold at the amount of inventory accumulating ofthat particular device, etc. One may also modify the pricing based onthe geographic location of the kiosk.

The IBO may keep a small amount from each sale the amounts of which aredetermined on a scale (based on one or more factors which may includethe amount paid for the trade device, the total amount of units receivedby the IBO in a given time, the overall number of kiosks operated by theIBO, etc.).

According to the combo pricing, the IBO purchases the kiosk as well asthe software that runs it (including call center operators, etc.). Thesystem may determine a recommended amount that should be paid for aparticular device based on factors like: the amount paid once the deviceis sold, the accumulated amount of inventory etc. The IBO may be able tomodify the amount paid to the client (within a min/max range) based ontheir own criteria. The trade device collection entity (e.g. firstcompany) may share in the gains or losses—but is likely have a minimumamount that is received in any case. In some embodiments, previoustransactions and/or other sources of transaction information may beprocessed to determine the amount of payment, and/or to determine othertransaction information that can be displayed to the client. Forexample, previous transaction data from various sources can be analyzedto determine the prices paid by competitors for trade devices of similartype and characteristics.

At operation 648, it is determined whether the client has accepted theoffer. The client may indicate acceptance of the offer by touching theappropriate virtual button displayed on the screen of the interactioncontrol device. If the client intends to decline, he/she may insteadtouch a different virtual button for declining.

FIG. 10 illustrates a portion of flowchart 600 including operations 650to 658. After operation 648, the flowchart 600 proceeds to operation650. At operation 650, the client is presented with the agreement fortrading the trade device. The agreement may be a standard form contractwith certain fields filled in with information regarding the client'sidentity and address, the identification of the trade device, and, insome cases, the value for which the trade device is exchanged.

At operation 652, it is determined whether the client accepts theagreement. The client may indicate that he agrees with the agreement bypressing a displayed virtual button on the interaction control device.The kiosk app or the server can then generate an agreement ID andassociate it with other information gathered in the transaction thatuniquely identifies the client.

In an embodiment, the client may use on screen signature from the tradedevice or from the interaction control device or the computer-basedkiosk touch screen to acknowledge the transaction.

At operation 654, the trade device is secured within the kiosk. In anexample embodiments, the premises assistant may retrieve the tradedevice from the top container of kiosk 116 and deposit into the bottomcontainer. In another embodiment, the premises assistant may operate amechanical button or the like to open a door which drops the tradedevice from within the top container into the bottom container.

At operation 656, the client is provided with payment. The payment tothe client of the agreed upon amount may be provided in one of a varietyof means such as, but not limited to, Paypal transfer, email wiretransfer or other credit may be provided in addition to, or in place of,cash. Coupons, redeemable at the local establishment where the kiosk islocated or elsewhere, may be another form of payment dispensed inexchange for a trade device.

At operation 658, the client is provided with a receipt for the tradedevice. The receipt may indicate identifying information for the tradedevice, the time and date of the transaction, and the amount paid to theclient in exchange for the trade device. In some embodiments, the clientcan select to receive his receipt by email or other electronic transfer.The receipt may include a coupon which may be in the form of a QR code,bar code, or other recognizable identifiers for a merchant to accept thecoupon. In an embodiment of the invention, the IBO can be presentedconfiguration options to configure coupons to be handed out foralternate payment methods, including, for example, a coupon to be handedout when a trade device has little or no value. The server may also sendto kiosks or groups of kiosks instructions for distributing coupons bythe kiosk.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a process 700 for obtaining theclient's approval of the trade agreement. Process 700 may includeoperations 702-706. According to an embodiment process 700 may beexecuted when performing operation 652, for example, prompting theclient to indicated whether he/she accepts the agreement.

At operation 702, an input from the client is received indicating thatthe acceptance of the agreement. For example, the client may havetouched the displayed virtual button corresponding to the acceptance.

At operation 704, the client is prompted for providing confirmation ofthe acceptance. The prompting may be via the screen of the kiosk and/orother device such as the interaction control device providing forcommunication with the client. For example, the client may be requestedto provide a thumbprint as confirmation of the acceptance. In someembodiments, a different biometric can be used as a confirmation ofacceptance, for example an eye scan, voice recognition, facial patternrecognition, etc.

At operation 706, a thumbprint reader is activated to obtain theclient's confirmation.

In some embodiments, using a coupon for retail value, a web page canoffer additional features for instance by allowing redemption accountingof the trade coupons. In such embodiments, a salesperson may verifyusing the web page by entering or scanning the coupon ID that the couponhas not yet been redeemed, or can use the website to redeem a partialvalue of a coupon.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of a process 800 for determining whetherto recycle the trade device. Process 800 may include operations 802-804.According to an embodiment process 800 may be executed when performingoperation 644 determines that the trade device does not have a tradeablevalue.

At operation 802, the client is prompted to accept the option to recyclethe trade device. For example, such an option may be provided when thesystem determined that the trade device does not have sufficienttradeable value.

At operation 804, it is determined whether the user has selected therecycle option. Subsequently, the process may proceed to present theclient with an agreement and collect the trade device for recycling.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of a process 1300 for processing thetrade device when the trade device cannot run, or for some reason doesnot run, the kiosk app. Process 1300 may include operations 1302-1316.

At operation 1302, the client is prompted to place the trade device inthe kiosk opening

At operation 1304, trade device image capture is performed andevaluation is activated.

At operation 1306, the evaluation of the trade device in the scanningchamber is performed. The evaluation includes detecting externallyvisible metrics such as size, shape, other visible characteristics thatare determinable by capturing images of the trade device.Characteristics such as weight etc. may also be detected. However,because the kiosk app is not active, certain internal metrics may beunavailable.

At operation 1308, the user session is updated with obtained metrics.

At operation 1310, a value is determined for the trade device. Thedetermination may be based upon the metrics obtained in the aboveoperations.

At operation 1312, it is determined whether the trade device hassufficient tradeable value. If no, the trade device may be consideredfor recycling or returned to the client. If yes, the process 1300proceeds to operation 1314 where the corresponding user session isassigned to a call center operator. In some embodiments, in thisscenario where the kiosk app is not able to run on the trade device, theuser session is queued to be assigned to a level 2 operator.

The queue servicing may be based upon the round robin discipline suchthat waiting clients at different kiosks are fairly treated. Atoperation 1316, the user session is assigned to an available level 2operator. Level 2 operators are authorized and equipped for a greaterlevel of engagement with the client than the level 1 operators.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart of a process 1400 for processing of auser session by a level 2 operator. Process 1400 may include operations1402-1420. According to an embodiment process 1400 may be executed when,for example, a user session for transaction related to a trade devicewhich does not run the kiosk app.

At operation 1402, the user session is obtained by the assigned level 2call center operator.

At operation 1404, the operator determines whether the client hasrequested help or assistance.

If the client has indicated that he is having an issue, then atoperation 1406, the operator directly interacts with the client toresolve the issues.

If the client has not indicated that he is having an issue, then atoperation 1408, the operator may communicate with the premise assistantto further corroborate or determine the client provided ID information.

At operation 1410, for embodiments with use of ID, if the ID issuccessfully verified, the process 1400 may proceed to operation 1412 atwhich the operator may verify the acquired trade device metrics.

At operation 1414, it is determined whether the trade device is a validdevice.

At operation 1416, it is again determined whether the kiosk app isrunning in the trade device.

If it is determined that the app is now running on the trade device, atoperation 1418, the operator may utilize the app to further determineconditions of the trade device.

In the case that the app is not running on the trade device, or wherethe app is running, after certain trade device conditions are determinedwith the help of the app, at operation 1420, the operator may select adevice option from a list of devices selected by the system.

As described above, an app to detect and diagnose various aspects of thetrade device (for example, the kiosk app referred to above), may bedownloaded to the trade device or another device (e.g., a second mobiledevice) from an app portal such as Google Play Store™ or Apple iTunesStore™. In some embodiments, the app may be downloaded to the tradedevice at any time prior to the trade device being placed in the kiosk,even before the trade device is near the kiosk.

In some embodiments, the app may be used by another device (e.g., asecond portable electronic device which is not the trade device, anothercomputer) to facilitate the evaluation of the trade device—for example,diagnostics of the trade device may be performed based at least on animage captured using the camera of the other device. Such diagnosticsmay be complementary to diagnostic performed by the kiosk and/or thetrade device. The other device may be a smartphone, tablet computer, orother portable electronic device.

When the app is downloaded and installed on the second device, the appmay provide for the client to enter information about and/or submitpictures of, the trade device, so that the time the user has to spendphysically at the kiosk completing the trade can be significantlyreduced. Reducing the time necessary for the user to spend at the kiosk,improves the user experience in using the kiosk to trade devices. Italso provides for improving the kiosk's throughput for processing tradedevices.

The reduction of the time required at the kiosk may be achieved by theapp acquiring, either automatically or by the client manually entering,many of the pieces of information required for the trade before arrivingat the kiosk and the app transferring the acquired information to thekiosk and/or the kiosk premise representative's portable deviceoperating as a interaction control device when the client is near thekiosk. In some embodiments, the app may transfer the acquiredinformation to the central servers (e.g., servers 108/110) from wherethe kiosk can subsequently access the information. The automaticacquisition of information by the second device may be by capturing animage of the trade device using the camera of the second device, usingthe microphone of the second device to record audio output from thetrade device, etc. Captured image or audio of the trade device may besubsequently submitted to the kiosk or the central servers for analysis.Some of the analysis may be performed by the second device. One or morepictures and/or audio clips of the trade device may be submitted to thekiosk or the central servers by the second device before or soon afterthe client with the devices arrives at the kiosk. The informationacquired by the app in advance may also include information pertainingto the client and/or the trade device.

The photographs of the trade device can be used to reduce the number ofimages of the trade device required to be captured by the kiosk. Incertain embodiments, a comparison of the kiosk-taken image of the tradedevice and an app-taken image of the trade device can be used to confirmthat the app-provided information relates to the same device imaged byor in the kiosk.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart for process 1500 in which the clientruns the kiosk app on a second device such as a second smartphone togather information about the trade device. The app, in theseembodiments, may be run before the trade device is near a kiosk.Although the following operations are described as part of the kioskapp, in some embodiments the operations may be performed by one or moreapps that are separated from the kiosk app.

At operation 1502 the client downloads the app to the second device(e.g., a client's mobile phone which is not the trade device) from anapp store or other network resource.

At operation 1504 the client starts the app. The app, running on thesecond device, may instruct the client to take one or more images of thetrade device. The instructions may be displayed on the screen of thesecond device or may be output via the speaker. The instructions mayspecify that the front, back, and/or sides of the trade device are to bephotographed, that one or more buttons on the trade device are to bepressed before the front display of the trade device is photographed sothat what is displayed on its screen will be captured on thephotographs, etc. Some of the aspects of the trade device to be detectedfrom images captured by the second device were described above.

The app can be used by the second device to assess the features andfunctionalities of a trade device, at least partially, before the tradedevice is brought to the kiosk. For example, the app running on thesecond device can take at least one picture of a trade device and withprocessing by remote servers (e.g., servers 108 and databases 110) usingtechnologies such as, but not limited to, computer vision, artificialintelligence, object recognition and defect recognition, the app is ableto identify the trade device. For example, in order for a client toevaluate a trade device from an app running on the client's mobiledevice, the client may be instructed, by the call center operator and/orthe remote server, to take a series of at least one photo of the tradedevice. The app on the second device then sends the series of at leastone photo to a recognition server (e.g., in servers 108) for furtheranalysis. The recognition server uses computer vision technologies torecognize features from the picture taken, such as, length, width,height, position of attributes such as buttons, microphones, logos, etc.The recognition server by having processed a multitude of images iscapable of recognizing with a high accuracy the model of the tradedevice using artificial intelligence and computer vision models.

In an example embodiment, in order to classify the trade device make andmodel from images of the trade device itself, the recognition server mayuse a deep learning algorithm, such as, for example, convolution neuralnetwork (CNN), which uses a classification algorithm that has at leasttwo phases. In the training phase the CNN is trained using a datasetcomprised of images of known phones and their corresponding make, modeland possibly attributes. In the prediction phase the CNN utilizes thetrained model to predict phone make and model from phone images as wellas possible attributes.

The CNN network may improve with training. There may be four steps intraining the CNN.

In the first step of training the CNN, data preprocessing, the imagesmay be processed for clarity and stored in a format that can be used bythe recognition server. Specifically, the prepossessing step may consistof: histogram equalization on all training phone images, resize alltraining images to a fixed format, divide the phone training data intotwo sets respectively training set, for example a first setcorresponding to, for example, five sixth of total image set and avalidation set corresponding to the balance one sixth—the former may beused for training the model and the latter may be for calculating theaccuracy of the model.

In the step of model definition, a CNN model and its parameters aredefined. The defined CNN model may use for example a GoogleNET which ispre-trained on the ImageNet dataset. The use of pre-trained model is atechnique referred to as transfer learning.

In the step of solver definition, the CNN model may be optimized. Theaccuracy of the model is computed using the validation set everypredetermined fixed number of iterations (e.g., at every i^(th)iteration, where i is preconfigured). The optimization is run for amaximum number of iterations i_max such as i_max>50*i.

In the step of model training, the CNN may be trained using the trainingset. As the loss and the model accuracy are monitored, the trainingprocess may be run until either a predetermined number of iterations isreached or the variation on the loss and the model accuracy isconsistently below a predetermined threshold.

Once the training completes, the recognition server and/or the seconddevice uses the trained CNN to make predictions on new images of phones.

In some embodiments and in conjunction with the above, the recognitionserver may also be configured to identify defects of the trade devicebased on the series of images, for example detecting that a screen iscracked or a button is missing or other attributes being altered. Inorder to do so, in some embodiments, the recognition server is capableof identifying analog defects in comparison to “mint condition” picturesby using various computer vision functions and libraries such aslibraries available from OpenCV.

For example, in an embodiment of the invention for detecting defects,one method for detecting defects is based on images taken from at leastone viewpoint and performing: (1) histogram of gradients (HOG) features;(2) transform image by applying homography transformation based on thefour corners of the screen found in the previous step, (3) preprocessthe image by grayscale conversion and Gaussian Blur application, and (4)find cracks using edge detector such as Canny edge detector.

In embodiments capable of detecting defects through the use of computervision or artificial intelligence libraries, certain particularattributes may be of interests, such as “cracked screen”, “missingbutton”, “missing battery”, etc. These attributes are stored andassociated with the user session or the trade device for furtherprocessing, such as, for querying a price. Based on informationidentified above from a recognition and/or defect recognition server,taken from a series of at least one picture from either an automatedkiosk or a second device capable of taking pictures, price analysisfunctions are performed to compute or select with the help of a databasean estimated market price to be offered to the end user for the seconddevice.

In some embodiments, at least one camera (of the second device or of thekiosk) taking images of the trade device may be an infrared cameracapable of detecting defects that are otherwise left unseen by standardvisible spectrum cameras. Similar models and methods for defectdetections, as described herein, are applied to images generated byinfrared cameras. In some embodiments, at least one camera taking imagesof the trade device may be a 3D camera capable of measuring depth. Insome embodiments, cameras may be assisted by strategically locatedmirrors capable of extending the viewing capability of the camera towardthe device both for device identification of the make and model or fordefect detections, through techniques such as the above describedtechniques.

Further aspects of the trade device can be detected using the seconddevice. In some embodiments, the client is prompted to dial *#06# on afirst device such as a cell phone which in most cases causes thecellular phone to display the IMEI and, using another camera connectedto the second device, computer code on said second device is capable ofreading the IMEI displayed on the trade device, using optical characterreading (OCR) technologies, which allows the second device to identifythe manufacturer and model of the trade device by using an IMEIidentifier functions or database which can retrieve such informationfrom an IMEI. After displaying the estimated price, the kiosk may askthe client for an email or phone number to follow-up with additionalinstructions, for example an email or text message that includes link todownload the app. The email may contain additional information, forinstance a special promotion code that could lock the price offered forcertain amount of time.

Alternatively, the client may be prompted to dial *#06# on a cellularphone (trade device) which in most cases causes the cellular phone todisplay the IMEI and thereafter the client may be prompted to take ascreenshot when the IMEI is displayed. The app running on the seconddevice can then request access to the client's picture and look in thelast pictures taken to look for a picture containing an IMEI displayed.In order to do so, the app may have various models to compare thescreenshot with in order to identify a screenshot that has an IMEI. Forexample, on an iPhone 6s the IMEI is displayed in an area beginningapproximately at coordinates (210,520) within a rectangle of approximatedimension of 330×50. The app can also look at other screenshot features,for example the existence of the battery logo or the OK button.

At operation 1506, client information may be entered into the app. Theclient information may include client name, address, and otheridentifying information. In some embodiments, the client informationacquired by the app may include images of the identification card,driving license, etc. of the client.

At operation 1508, an estimated amount is determined for the tradedevice. The estimated amount, at this stage, is determined based on theinformation currently acquired by the app. In some embodiments, thepricing information can be obtained from a pricing server. The pricingserver and app interaction may operate in a manner similar to thatdescribed below in relation to process 1600.

At operation 1510, the client uses the kiosk. The information regardingthe trade device acquired by the second device may be transferred to acentral server either directly or via the trade app running on theinteraction control device.

One or more images are captured of the trade device within the kiosk andtransmitted to the central servers.

In some embodiments, based upon the image and/or audio informationacquired by the second device, the central server may provide anestimated payout offer, that may be displayed to the client on thesecond device. In these embodiments, the central server may keep trackof the estimated offer in association with a unique identifier for thetrade device (e.g., the IMEI which may be acquired by image analysis).Subsequently, when the client submits the trade device to a kiosk, theoffered payout after the complete diagnostic analysis in the kiosk mayalso take into amount the estimated payout offer which can be locatedbased upon the unique identifier.

Many of the above techniques for transferring acquired information aboutthe trade device to a central server may be used either by the tradedevice running the app as described in relation to process 1600 below orby the second mobile device running the app.

The app when run on the second device is useful for acquiringphotographs and capturing audio output of the trade device. When run onthe trade device, the app may acquire diagnostic information covering asubstantially larger portion of the functions and features of the tradedevice.

Although particular embodiments have been described above, a person ofskill in the art having been provided with this disclosure, wouldappreciate aspects of the different embodiments may be used in variouscombinations to realize still other embodiments of a technique and/orkiosk for recycling electronic devices.

While the embodiments presented herein have been described in detail,the foregoing description is in all aspects illustrative and notrestrictive. It is understood that numerous other modifications andvariations can be devised without departing from the scope of thedisclosed embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A handheld-device imaging and collection booth,comprising: a first container and a second container attached to eachother, wherein the first container comprises: a top panel arranged toenable acquiring a clear view of an inside of the first container; andone or more mirrors arranged facing inside of the first container, suchthat an image captured by a camera through the top panel capturesreflections, in the one or more mirrors, of an handheld-device placedinside the first container, and wherein the second container comprises acollection chamber configured to store the handheld-device.
 2. Thehandheld-device imaging and collection booth according to claim 1,wherein the first container further comprises an elevated platform on aninside of a bottom surface, for placing the handheld-device such that atleast a portion of the bottom surface of the handheld-device isrepresented in said reflections.
 3. The handheld-device imaging andcollection booth according to claim 1, wherein the first containerincludes an opening in at least one of the sides, wherein a size of theopening is sufficient to accept the handheld-device into a center of thefirst container.
 4. The handheld-device imaging and collection boothaccording to claim 3, wherein the opening is in a single side of thefirst container.
 5. The handheld-device imaging and collection boothaccording to claim 3, wherein one side of the first container includes adoor such that the opening is formed when only when the door is open. 6.The handheld-device imaging and collection booth according to claim 5,wherein the door includes at least one mirror of said one or moremirrors in its inside facing surface.
 7. The handheld-device imaging andcollection booth according to claim 1, wherein a height of the firstcontainer is configured in accordance with a focal length of a camera.8. The handheld-device imaging and collection booth according to claim7, wherein the height is adjustable.
 9. The handheld-device imaging andcollection booth according to claim 1, wherein the top panel includes anopening through which the camera captures the image.
 10. Thehandheld-device imaging and collection booth according to claim 1,wherein the top panel is at least partially constructed from atransparent material such that the image is captured through thetransparent material.
 11. The handheld-device imaging and collectionbooth according to claim 1, wherein the first container is placed on topof the second container, and wherein at least a portion of the bottom ofthe first container and/or at least a portion of a top of the secondcontainer are configured to be operable to drop the handheld-device fromthe first container into the second container.
 12. The handheld-deviceimaging and collection booth according to claim 1, wherein the secondcontainer includes an opening through which the handheld-device isdeposited into the second container, and wherein the second container isconfigured to require at least two different keys or at least twodifferent authentications in order to retrieve the handheld-device fromthe second container.
 13. The handheld-device imaging and collectionbooth according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first containerand the second container is at least partially constructed in wood. 14.A method for imaging and collecting a handheld-device, comprising:placing the handheld-device inside a first container of an imaging andcollection booth by inserting the handheld-device through an opening ina side of the first container, wherein the first container comprises atop panel arranged to enable acquiring a clear view of an inside of thefirst container, and one or more mirrors arranged facing inside of thefirst container, such that an image captured by a camera through the toppanel captures reflections, in the one or more mirrors, of thehandheld-device placed inside the first container; capturing an imagefrom a camera facing inside of the first container from a top of thefirst container, wherein the captured image includes a view of thehandheld-device within the first container and views of one or moresides of the handheld-device reflected in the one or more mirrors;transmitting the image to a server; receiving an instruction in responseto the transmitted image, wherein the instruction is generatedexternally to the imaging and collection booth based upon a condition ofthe handheld-device determined in accordance with the transmitted image;and based upon the instruction, transferring the handheld-device fromthe first container to an adjacent second container which is adjacent tothe first container for storage.
 15. The method according to claim 14,wherein the transferring includes operating an opening in a bottom ofthe first container, and/or a top of a second container in order todeposit the handheld-device in the second container.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 14, further comprising preventing access to thehandheld-device within the second container until at least two differentkeys or at least two authentications are used to unlock the secondcontainer.
 17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the camera is asmartphone camera operated by a sales-associated, and wherein thetransmitting includes transmitting the image from the smartphone to theserver.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the receivingincludes receiving a message from the server, and displaying thereceived message on the smartphone.
 19. A distributed system of kiosksfor collecting handheld devices, comprising: a central server; aplurality of kiosks, wherein each kiosk includes a first container and asecond container attached to each other, wherein the first containercomprises: a top panel arranged to enable acquiring a clear view of aninside of the first container; and one or more mirrors arranged facinginside of the first container, such that an image captured by a camerathrough the top panel captures reflections, in the one or more mirrors,of an handheld-device placed inside the first container, and wherein thesecond container comprises a collection chamber configured to store thehandheld-device; and a plurality of interaction control devices, eachinteraction control device configures to capture an image of an insideof a first container and transmit the image to the central server.